Page 107 of Cherry on Top

“Oh! Oh!” Giana looked thrilled. “Of course you are Will’s parents! You look just like him.”

Carla put out a hand and said, “Carla and Patrick Johnson. It’s so nice to meet you. We had a chance to talk to Enzo yesterday and he’s wonderful. And the mural! So beautiful, already.”

Giana, not surprisingly, bypassed her outstretched hand and pulled her into a big hug, instead. Carla looked surprised but pleased. Next she hugged Patrick, who seemed equally as surprised, but a hair less pleased.

“We will be family now,” Giana said firmly. She glanced over at Enzo. “Now that our sons are family.”

“Oh, they told you too?” Carla said. “Were you surprised? We were surprised they were so serious, so quickly.”

Will’s eyes went wide. Enzo considered interjecting, before their mothers could go into more raptures about how they were about to get married. But Will put a hand on his arm, and okay, they could let this play out. For at least a minute or two. But that was it.

Giana smiled. “Oh, I wasn’t surprised at all. I knew they’d be serious about each other. A perfect match if I may say so myself.”

“Hardly perfect, if they’re in a long-distance relationship much of the time.” Patrick’s voice was calm, but there was a sternness in his eyes that worried Enzo.

“Patrick, we talked about this,” Carla said under her breath.

“We’re gonna work this out,” Will interjected. “I know it seems sudden and soon, and a lot, but it’s gonna work out.”

“Honey, you have to understand. We don’t want you to be married to someone who’s never around!” Carla exclaimed.

“Good news,” Enzo said, unable to help himself for one more minute, “he won’t be.”

“What,” Giana exclaimed.

“Let’s sit down,” Will said hurriedly and gestured towards the table.

His mother slid in next to Carla. Patrick sat next to Will. Enzo didn’t move. Maybe if he didn’t sit down, he could still run away.

Avoid that betrayed look in his mother’s eyes.

“Does anybody want any coffee?” Enzo asked.

“Coffee! Coffee! He asks about coffee right now. You need to tell me what’s going on,” his mom demanded. “Explain what you meant.”

But before he could, she turned to Carla, dark eyes wide and upset. “See what you just did! You put all these doubts in them, when they were perfect before! I made sure of it! And now they’re going to break up!”

“Mom, you didn’t do anything. In fact,” Enzo winced a little as the truth came out, “you did less than nothing. We didn’t even start dating because you suggested it.”

Well, Enzo supposed you could make the argument that they had. Because they’d fake-dated because of Giana, and they’d real-dated because of the fake dating.

“But you said you did! I showed you what you could be! I’m the one who suggested you date in the first place.”

Will was right; Giana was the queen of exclamation marks. Even if they weren’t written down, they were right there anyway, in her dramatic delivery.

“When we first started dating,” Will said hesitantly, “we weren’t actually dating for real. We just thought if you . . .if you thought we were, you might . . .uh . . .get off our cases, a bit. But uh . . .no worries? ’Cause we’re actually dating now.”

Her jaw dropped.

Carla and Patrick looked equally as stunned.

“And,” Enzo added, because they were in for a penny now, might as well be in for a pound, “we aren’t engaged either. We’re dating, yes, but we’re not going to get married anytime soon. Sorry. It seemed the easiest way to convince you that Will couldn’t leave town, right now.”

“But you can,” Patrick said a little bitterly.

And okay, that was fair. Sort of.

“Enzo has a job that isn’t in town, that he’s very good at, that he’s famous for,” Will said, and he put an arm around Enzo’s waist. Showing a united front. “And yes, maybe I will go with him. When my own business hasn’t been open for only a few months. When my manager isn’t brand-new on the job.”

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